Spoon River Valley Scenic Drive celebrates 50th anniversary

Sunday

Oct 8, 2017 at 8:33 PMOct 8, 2017 at 8:33 PM

Talbot Fisher The Register-Mail TalbotFisher16

LONDON MILLS — The sun shone brightly Sunday on Fulton County and the Spoon River, whose waters twist and turn through the county. For 50 years, the Spoon River Valley Scenic Drive has been an autumn tradition in Central Illinois, and continues to thrive over the course of two weekends in October.

In Bernadotte, the site of the only dam on the Spoon River, hundreds descended upon BBQ galore. One stand even included fried alligator on a stick.

Among the homeweaved rugs, woodcarvings and other art, the complicated iron work of Joe Peters stood out. Motorcycles, trucks, a dinosaur, a table, a Shetland pony-sized horse and even a life-size man made from iron parts. He also has coffee tables, made from wood and iron.

“It’s just stuff I love to do,” said the Lewistown native, “I’ve been doing metal work since I was a kid.”

Now in his mid-30’s, Peters had back surgery about seven years ago, which led to his transition into making art.

“I started by doing the smaller pieces, and the big ones have become my winter projects,” he said.

“Every piece is different. With the big ones I work a few hours a day on it, and it’s ready by spring.”

“I do custom pieces as well,” he explained. “One had each part mean something to the customer. It had a nail from his grandpa’s barn, a rod from his boat motor, a wrench with his dad’s initials, that kind of stuff. After putting it together, it became something unique and special that had all these stories that were important for him.”

Smithfield, with a population of only a little over 200, saws hundreds of visitors as the day passed on. The town was filled with tents of collectibles.

Among the cans was one of Knickerbocker Beer, the beer brewed by Jacob Ruppert, the Yankees owner during the era of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. The brewery closed in 1965.

Vintage soda cans had a spot, too, including a 1970’s era can of Teem, which was Pepsi-Cola’s answer to Coca-Cola’s Sprite which was discontinued in 1984.

Nostalgia filled the tent of Brian and Ruth Hinman of Macomb, whose tables were filled with Nintendo systems and games from the 1980’s and 90’s.

Vinyl from the 1980s including Bruce Springsteen, the Kinks and Huey Lewis filled crates. Going even further back through musical media history, 8-track tapes of Tammy Wynette and Crystal Gayle were lined up in a little box.

A slice of Galesburg history was found on a table of pottery, with a small crockpot dated 1976, which featured the picture of a snow-covered Remembrance Rock and park behind Carl Sandburg’s birthplace.

Smithfield also had its own unique food of the day, crawfish etouffee.

A canopy of autumn colors welcomed visitors to little Ellisville, where apple dumplings and buffalo burgers were found alongside antiques and crafts.

London Mills, sitting on the border of Knox and Fulton counties, saw hundreds of visitors as well, browsing the crafts and goods throughout town.

The historic former bank building now houses an antique shop, which was so busy that patrons snaked through the building single file.

A giant, solid iron bear trap, made in the 1880’s for the Mackenzie District Fur Co., sat on the floor of one room. In the former bank vault, countless bottles, including unopened bottles of Pepsi from the 1960’s now lined the shelves.

At the front counter, numerous ancient photographs and tintypes featured the faces of long-dead people. Elderly revolvers were locked in the front case. Each photo and weapon hiding a story for buyers.

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